Movies
Affleck may halt movie over Madeleine
Published Wednesday, Sep 12 2007, 13:23 BST | By Kimberley Dadds
Ben Affleck has revealed that he is considering halting the release of a film that he is directing because it bares too much resemblance to the case of missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann.
Gone Baby Gone, which is the actor's directorial debut, tells the story of a four-year-old girl, played by an actress also called Madeleine, who is kidnapped from her bed while her mother leaves her alone in the house.
Affleck was due to debut the movie at the Deauville Film Festival in France in November, but on learning of the case of Madeleine, who went missing from Portugal in May, he has decided to review whether to still release the picture in Britain.
He said: "We are acutely aware of the situation.
"We have a greater concern for that than the release of our film, which is just a commercial matter, whereas this is a matter of life and death.
"I'm not up to date on the details and it is not something that has taken off in the United States in the way it has in the UK. It is only when someone said there was this case that was very similar to my film that we looked it up.
"We don't want to release the movie if it is going to touch a nerve or inflame anybody's sensitivities."
Gone Baby Gone, which is the actor's directorial debut, tells the story of a four-year-old girl, played by an actress also called Madeleine, who is kidnapped from her bed while her mother leaves her alone in the house.
Affleck was due to debut the movie at the Deauville Film Festival in France in November, but on learning of the case of Madeleine, who went missing from Portugal in May, he has decided to review whether to still release the picture in Britain.
He said: "We are acutely aware of the situation.
"We have a greater concern for that than the release of our film, which is just a commercial matter, whereas this is a matter of life and death.
"I'm not up to date on the details and it is not something that has taken off in the United States in the way it has in the UK. It is only when someone said there was this case that was very similar to my film that we looked it up.
"We don't want to release the movie if it is going to touch a nerve or inflame anybody's sensitivities."
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